Thank you to everyone who joined me and Becky Haas on the first Resiliency Accelerator. Over 60 people from 11 countries joined us, including professionals from as far as Canada, New Zealand and the US and as close to home as Dublin and Wales.
Such was our participants enthusiasm and passion, that many of them were up in the middle of the night to attend.
The session was chaired by Dr Andi Clements, who is Professor and Assistant Chair in the Department of Psychology at East Tennessee State University. I am very grateful to Dr Clements who supported Becky and I as chair for the session. The chat was lively and the Q&A really engaging, so it was great to have Dr Clements involved in ensuring our group made the most of our inaugural session.
I gave my perspective on why systems change is essential in order to prevent and mitigate the impacts of childhood adversity and to transform the health and wellbeing of future generations. I also shared the TASC Model (Trauma Aware Systems Change) as a way of conceptualising the key areas for cross-sector partnership and action.
Becky shared her experience of seeing regional acceptance of ACEs as a social determinant to health within rural Appalachia and the steps taken that can be replicated by cities around the world. She also gave examples of advocating for trauma informed care, educating professional sectors and collaborating with stakeholders.
The Q&A was one of the most engaged I’ve experienced. We covered public messaging, co-production with communities and citizens as well as ensuring the voice of people who have lived experience of services and ACEs is heard and acknowledged. We also discussed how to work with schools and parents, which will be most critical moving forward.
The event was designed to start a global conversation on the implementation of ACEs science, help accelerate best practices, encourage existing ACEs communities in their work and help to identify ACEs advocates in as many nations as possible. And for me the session was the best possible start in achieving these aims.
What came through loud and clear was that there was a desire to learn from others from around the world, and to come together again to share good practice.
The next steps for the group will be determined by a survey which has been sent to attendees, and I am really hopeful about what happens next.
Please get in touch if you’d like to find out more about the future meetings. You can email me at: wlarkin@warrenlarkinassociates.co.uk